Lentil Sweet Potato Cottage Pie Food

LENTIL & SWEET POTATO SHEPHERD'S PIE

Steps:

• Place sweet potatoes in a large pot and fill with water until they're just covered. Bring to a boil over high heat. Then reduce to medium-high heat and cook for 15-20 minutes or until they slide off a knife very easily.
• Once cooked, drain and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Use a masher or fork to mash until smooth (see photo). Add coconut oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Depending on the sweetness of sweet potatoes, add a bit of maple syrup to taste (optional). Loosely cover and set aside.
• While potatoes are cooking, preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 C) and lightly grease a 9x13-inch (or similar size) baking dish (or more baking dishes, as needed, if altering batch size).
• If adding (optional), add portobello mushrooms to a shallow dish or large Ziploc bag. Top with balsamic vinegar, oil (optional), salt, pepper, and garlic. Toss to combine and let marinate for 5 minutes.
• Next heat a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add oil, onions, and garlic and sauté until lightly browned and caramelized - about 4-5 minutes.
• Add a pinch each salt and pepper. Then add lentils, vegetable broth, and thyme and stir. Bring to a low boil. Then reduce heat to simmer. Continue cooking until lentils are tender (20-30 minutes).
• (If adding mushrooms) while lentils cook, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add a dash of oil and the mushrooms with their marinade. Spread into an even layer and cook on one side for 2-3 minutes. Then carefully flip and cook on other side for 2-3 minutes. Then remove from heat and set aside.
• In the last 10 minutes of cooking the lentils, add the frozen veggies, stir, and cover to meld the flavors together. Drain off any extra vegetable stock (there shouldn't be much). Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more salt and pepper for overall flavor.
• Transfer the lentil mixture to your oven-safe baking dish and top with portobello mushrooms (optional) then mashed sweet potatoes. Smooth down with a spoon or fork and season with another crack of pepper and a little sea salt (and more thyme if desired).
• Set on a baking sheet to catch any overflow and bake for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are lightly browned on top and the edges are bubbling.
• Let cool briefly before serving. The longer it sits, the more it will thicken. Let cool completely before covering, and then store in the fridge up to 4-5 days or in the freezer up to 1 month. Reheats well in the microwave or in the oven.

VEGGIE SHEPHERD'S PIE WITH SWEET POTATO MASH

Steps:

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, then fry 1 halved and sliced large onion until golden.
• Add 2 large carrots, cut into sugar-cube size pieces and most of the 2 tbsp chopped thyme, reserving a sprinkling for later.
• Pour in 200ml red wine, 150ml water and a 400g chopped tomatoes, then crumble in 2 vegetable stock cubes and simmer for 10 mins.
• Tip in a 410g can green lentils, including the juice, then cover and simmer for another 10 mins until the carrots still have a bit of bite and the lentils are pulpy.
• Meanwhile, boil 950g sweet potatoes, cut into chunks, for 15 mins until tender, drain well, then mash with 25g butter and season to taste.
• Pile the lentil mixture into a pie dish, spoon the mash on top, then sprinkle over 85g grated vegetarian mature cheddar and the remaining thyme. The pie can now be covered and chilled for 2 days, or frozen for up to a month.
• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cook for 20 mins if cooking straightaway, or for 40 mins from chilled, until golden and hot all the way through. Serve with broccoli.

LENTIL & SWEET POTATO COTTAGE PIE

Steps:

• Tip the onions, carrots, celery and olive oil into a large saucepan. Cook over a medium heat for 8-10 mins until softened, add the garlic and fry for another minute. Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan (scraping up any bits stuck on the bottom), and simmer for 2 mins until most of the wine has evaporated.
• Add the thyme, tomato purée, soy sauce, caster sugar and vinegar to the pan and stir to combine. Tip in the lentils, tomatoes and 100ml water and simmer for 10-12 mins until reduced and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Meanwhile, make the mash topping. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the sweet potatoes and simmer for 10-15 mins until cooked all the way through. Drain, then add the dairy-free margarine, mustard powder and milk, and mash until smooth along with plenty of salt and pepper.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Season the filling and pour it into a 25 x 20 x 7cm casserole dish. Top with the mash, starting with spoonfuls on the outside corners and working your way inwards so the filling doesn't spill out. Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top and bake for 30-35 mins until golden and bubbling. Once baked and left to cool, the pie will keep frozen for up to three months. Defrost thoroughly overnight, then reheat in the oven until piping hot.

LENTIL COTTAGE PIE

Steps:

• Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan.Add the chopped onion, celery and carrot along with a pinch of salt.Cook over low to medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring often to avoid the onion burning.
• Once the onion has softened add the garlic and cook for a minute.Then add half a tablespoon of butter, all the chopped mushrooms, a pinch of salt and a small pinch of freshly ground black pepper.Cook for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms release their juices. Stir often.
• Add the chopped parsnips and cook for a few minutes.Then add one heaped tablespoon of tomato puree (paste) and one heaped tablespoon of plain (all-purpose) flour. Stir the paste and flour into the vegetables and cook for a minute or two.
• Now pour in the stock one ladle at a time, stirring the stock into the vegetable mixture each time. The sauce will be thick to start off then will end up being slightly thin.Add all the lentils to the stock and stir well.
• Stir in one tablespoon of Henderson's relish, two tablespoons of soy sauce and one heaped tablespoon of red currant jelly.Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.Add the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes. Stir often to avoid sticking at the bottom of the pan.The filling is done when the sauce is nice and thick.After 20 minutes transfer to a large casserole dish and stir in the frozen peas.
• Put the quartered potatoes into a saucepan. Cover with cold water and add a good pinch of salt.Bring the water to a boil then reduce to a fast simmer.Cook until the potatoes are tender. Test with a knife, the knife should go through the potato easily and should fall off the knife.Drain the potatoes, return the cooked potatoes to the saucepan and put them back on the heat for a minute to dry out.
• Mash the potatoes using a potato masher or ricer. They should be lump-free.
• Add the milk and butter to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the butter has melted.Pour the warm milk and melted butter into the mashed potatoes. Do this in stages, about a quarter at a time. Beating the liquid into potatoes with a wooden spoon.Once all the milk and butter has been added and you have a smooth mash season with sea salt and black pepper.
• After you have added the peas to the vegetable mixture, use the back of a tablespoon to make sure the mixture is evenly spread out in the casserole dish.
• Add one heaped spoon of the mash to the vegetable mixture.Start in one corner and keep adding the mashed potatoes until they fully cover the vegetable mixture.Use a fork to spread the potatoes evenly over the vegetable mixture. You can make a criss-cross design with the fork if you like.
• Top with the grated cheese.
• Place the pie on a baking tray then place it on the middle tray in the oven.Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C (335°F) Fan/ 190°C (370°F) conventional oven.The cottage pie is cooked once the topping is a light golden brown and the liquid is bubbling up at the edges.Leave to cool slightly before serving.Add a sprinkling of chopped parsley as a garnish if you like.

LENTIL AND SWEET POTATO CURRY HAND PIES

Steps:

• For the filling: Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until slightly softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Place the sweet potatoes in a medium bowl and toss them with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and a pinch of salt. Push the onions to the side and add the sweet potatoes to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes begin to soften and the onions caramelize, about 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic, habanero, thyme, ginger, smoked paprika and allspice; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the lentils and toss until combined. If the mixture becomes dry, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to loosen any dry bits, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
• For assembly: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Mix the oil and curry powder in a small bowl.
• Unroll the phyllo dough on the counter with the shorter end facing towards you. Cut the phyllo in half lengthwise with a sharp knife so the sheets are about 6 1/2-by-18 inches each. Stack the cut sheets on top of each other. Cover the stack with a moistened kitchen towel or paper towels to keep the phyllo from drying out.
• Set a half sheet of phyllo on the counter with the shorter end facing towards you and brush the sheet lightly with the curry oil. Fold the sheet in half from left to right so that you have one long narrow strip. Brush it again with the curry oil, then place 1 tablespoon of the filling on the bottom right corner of the phyllo. Fold the right corner up toward the left side of the sheet to form a triangle, then keep folding up in a triangle shape along the length of the phyllo, brushing each fold lightly with the curry oil; place the completed pie on the prepared baking sheet and brush the top lightly with curry oil. Continue with the remaining filling, phyllo and curry oil.
• Sprinkle all the pies lightly with kosher salt. Bake until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
• Meanwhile, for the cool yogurt dipping sauce: Whisk together the yogurt, lemon zest and juice and mint in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use. Serve the hot pies with the dipping sauce.

SWEET POTATO-TOPPED COTTAGE PIE

Steps:

• For the base: heat half of the oil in a pan, add the onion and fry until it starts to soften, then add the garlic, celery and carrot and cook until soft. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a separate frying pan and fry the mince in batches, scooping each batch out with a slotted spoon and leave any excess oil behind.
• Add the mince to the veg, then stir in the tomato purée and cook for 1 min. Stir in the passata and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over a very low heat for 1½-2 hrs, then add the milk and cook for 30 mins. If you're making the base ahead of time, you can leave it to cool at this stage then freeze for up to a month. (Defrost fully before using in the next step.)
• To finish the recipe, heat more oil in a pan and fry another onion until it starts to soften. Add the carrot and celery and fry until tender. Add the thyme and bay and cook for 1 min, then tip in the mince base and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 mins (take off the lid towards the end if it's not thick enough).
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cook the sweet potatoes in simmering water until tender, drain well, then add the milk and mash the potatoes.
• Tip the meat mixture into a casserole dish and level it out (fish out the thyme and bay and discard), then pile the potato mixture on top and spread it out. Cook for 30 mins or until the top begins to brown.